How to Hold Sod in Place on a Hill

Sod can look like this within days of being laid.

Sod is fresh, living turf grass that has been sheared out the ground below the root line in strips at a turf farm, rolled up and delivered for re-spreading. Laying sod is the quickest way to create a fully grown, thick lawn in a yard or field. Sod is normally laid by unrolling strips of grass, which usually measure 18 inches by 6 feet, and tucking them tightly together so that the short edges of the strips never align with those beside them. Special measures should be taken for sod laid out on steep slopes, to keep the new turf from slipping apart.

1

Examine the slope and surrounding areas on which you'll be laying out your sod to ensure they are fully prepared for successful turfing. Quality turf soil should drain well, have a pH of between 6 and 7 and be free of invasive weeds. Use a garden pH test kit, available in a nursery or hardware store, to check acidity. Sod that has been laid over quality soil will root and fix itself to the ground much more easily.

2

Add 50 pounds of ground limestone per 1000 square feet of area, in addition to fertilizer that provides 1 pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet, to improve your existing soil's pH and nutrient levels. Work both into the top 4 to 6 inches of soil.

3

Add prepared turf soil bought from a landscape contractor, to a depth of 4 to 6 inches over your existing soil and grade it smooth with a rake.

4

Lay your sod in strips over any slopes you're turfing so that they all run lengthwise, horizontally across the downward direction of the slopes. If you were to draw a line from the top of the slope running downhill, it would run perpendicular to the strips. It is very important that you lay the strips lengthwise at a right angle to downward slope direction since this position makes them much less likely to slip loose. Stagger the strips so that the short ends of the pieces in one row do not line up with the short ends of the pieces in the next row.

5

Nail your sod strips into the ground on all sloped areas with large steel garden staples or plastic pegs using a rubber mallet. Place one peg at each short end of each strip that's laid across any sloping areas. Ensure the pegs penetrate through the sod into the underlying ground and that they are also sticking out by a couple of inches, so that you can later find them easily for removal once the grass has rooted itself in.

6

Water your lawn well and regularly after it has been covered in turf. This will make the sod root more quickly and hold itself in place without assistance. For the first few weeks after sodding, watering should be done daily and as many as two or three times a day for really warm periods. Water just enough each time to moisten the grass and underlying soil. Check this by poking a screwdriver into the ground or by slightly lifting a corner of one sod strip. Lawns laid during the warmer months in Sunset's Climate Zones 10 to 18 will need liberal watering when there is no rain.